content, and all of your favorite msnbc shows now ad free. subscribe on apple podcasts. >> right now. los angeles is bracing for a potential worst case scenario, as a storm system threatens to bring flash floods and landslides. officials warning of an increasing risk of debris flow and burn areas across la, where more than 16,000 structures have been destroyed from the wildfires. let's bring in michelle grossman for a quick, closer look at this. how much rain can we expect from these storms? michelle. >> hi there. >> alex. well, we're. >> looking anywhere from a half inch even up to two inches of rain. so right off the bat, this is really good news. we need this rain. we have some mountain snow that will fall as well. could see up to 18in in some spots. but of course we're concerned for the chance of some debris flows, especially in those burn areas and also some localized flooding. let's take a look at radar, because the rain has already begun to fall. love to see this on radar. we have the green. that is where the rain is. right near bakersfield.

the blue is showing where the snow is falling, and this will expand and extend down to portions of southern california starting early tonight in the evening hours. and then this area of low pressure is really going to sit and spin over the next several days. so it's going to bring a lot of moisture to this area through monday. this is what it looks like. we have the santa ana winds that have ended for today. we're looking at that onshore flow. it's a cooler flow off the pacific also bringing up that humidity levels. we really need that. it's been so bone dry there. the ground is was so dry for so long. so this is really going to help. and then as we go throughout the rest of the weekend, we'll watch this area of low pressure dropping into portions of california and essentially into southern california later on this evening. and that rain and snow will fall. so we are concerned, yes, for some localized flash flooding, especially where you see the pasadena, the eaton fires, those burn scars, because we're not going to have that vegetation to stop that flow. so we're going to watch it very closely where you see those darker colors, the reds, the oranges, the yellows. that corresponds to an inch to two inches, even a three, even up to three inches in some spots. most likely it's going to be close to

a half inch, an inch, maybe up to an inch and a half or two. we're looking at that through monday. we're also looking at a lot of snow, 18in of snow in some spots. we're going to see those snow levels. alex coming down to 3000ft. so generally 3 to 10in, but could see nearly a foot and a half there. >> back to you okay. thanks for keeping an eye on everything for us. appreciate that in moments. former deputy press secretary at the pentagon, sabrina singh, will join us to talk about what happened to the important portrait removed from the walls of the pentagon. good day, everyone from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome to alex witt reports. we begin this hour with breaking news on day six of the trump administration. kristi noem is confirmed as the new homeland security secretary with 59 votes for, 34 votes against. and pete hegseth is now sworn in as secretary of defense after a 50 over 50 vote friday night. the tie, broken by vice president jd vance and new reaction to his appointment today from a member

of the house armed services committee. >> it's a. >> sad day. >> for our military, for our department of defense. we've never had a less qualified secretary of defense than been pete hegseth. and he's not just unqualified because he has no experience running a large organization, because the last time he ran a nonprofit, he ran it into financial ruin. he's unqualified because he's morally unqualified. >> more breaking news. the mass firing of government agency watchdogs, including inspectors general at the justice department, senator dick durbin, a short time ago said the firings are unlawful and the continuation of president trump's efforts to reshape the federal government without oversight or accountability, and with loyalty to donald trump and donald trump alone. and new reaction to trump's first week building a framework for promised mass deportations, and the fear that is rippling across cities as a result of resumed workplace raids by ice.

>> if president. >> trump is talking about. >> deporting people like. >> the mayor said. >> violent criminals, murderers, no one is standing in. >> the way of that. >> the state of new jersey has never stood in the way of that. but in order to get to the types of numbers of removals that he is talking about, you're going to have to target people who have done nothing wrong here. >> also, new reaction today to trump's head spinning rash of executive orders, including his attack on the constitutional right of birthright citizenship. >> the people. >> who drafted. >> this are not dummies. they're doing this for a reason. it doesn't make sense legally, but it makes. perfect sense from the standpoint of great replacement theory. they may not win this round, but they want to keep on pounding at the door. >> we have several nbc reporters in place covering all of these latest headlines for us, and we're going to bring in nbc's yamiche alcindor with the president in las vegas right now. yamiche, i guess and what about half an hour? donald trump

is set to speak in las vegas. what can we expect there? >> well, you can expect a crowd of cheering and excited trump supporters who are going to be welcoming the president back to vegas. this is going to be his first real big event since taking office and starting his new administration. so even though this isn't technically a campaign rally, it sure feels like a campaign rally with people dancing and the music that you can probably hear. the other thing i'm told by white house officials is that the president is going to specifically talk about the economy and his promise to cut taxes on tips. there's a lot of questions on how he's going to do that. so we expect at least a bit more about what he's going to do to do that. alex. >> okay. let's take a look together at last night, trump's pick for secretary of defense. pete hegseth was confirmed by the senate in that tie breaker vote. what's been the reaction? >> well, as you said, alex, this is really a squeaker the first time. the second only the second time in history that a cabinet vote needed a tie breaker. and we are hearing a lot of

reaction, both from his supporters, people in the administration, including the vice president and the president himself, as well as people who were critical, including former senate republican majority leader mitch mcconnell, who surprisingly voted no. take a listen to some of that reaction. >> i'm very excited he got. >> confirmed and was. >> happy to help. >> get your vote tonight. >> we issued a statement and you can read it. >> i think pete is going to be a great secretary of defense. are you disappointed. >> that mcconnell. >> voted no? i didn't even know that. no, i don't know that. i just heard that we won. winning is what matters, right? >> now. at his swearing in at the white house, a reporter shouted a question to pete and the vice president, saying, why should women in the armed forces trust you? and it was the vice president who said he wanted to answer that question. he said that he has confidence in pete hegseth. he thinks he's going to be good for the military, and that all people in armed forces should trust him. so this is really a trump administration

that is very excited that they will be confirmed. and continuing to defend his character here. alex. >> yeah, maybe. but i think that question was being directed to pete hegseth. he should have answered it. but that's just me. okay, yamiche, thank you so much. let's turn right now to nbc's julia jester on capitol hill. so, julia, how are lawmakers reacting? first, to those inspector generals being fired because congress was supposed to be given notice, right? >> that's right. alex. and today, because of a saturday confirmation vote, we were able to chat with senators here at the capitol. and we spoke with some. a lot of the republicans seem to have not heard the news, but some republicans are saying, like senator kennedy, that the president has good lawyers around him. so he should be okay. legal murky area here. senator mark warner of virginia was echoing a lot of sentiment. we heard from democrats kind of disappointed but not surprised. here's his scathing comments to the press earlier today.

>> one more example. of a lack. >> of respect for the rule of law. and we saw it earlier when president trump pardoned all the january 6th rioters. now, to get rid of independent inspector generals. i mean, how is any of this going to lower grocery prices? donald trump promised he was going to bring down costs. instead, he seems to be trying to throw a monkey wrench into the kind of any independence left on our government's. >> and as you mentioned, alex, the white house has a legal obligation to give congress 30 day notice for the firing and removal of any inspector general. this passed in 2022 with the inspector general act that strengthened protections for these government watchdogs. and so some senators said that they might be able to figure out a recourse. but that's going to have to happen amid a busy, busy week ahead for them with these confirmation hearings for the

president's cabinet, which will be more important than ever, especially regarding their answers on oversight. now, today, kristi noem became the dhs secretary, leading the department of homeland security. eight democrats joined with republicans in supporting her nomination. you mentioned pete hegseth squeaked through last night. and looking ahead to next week, you have scott bessent, who will come up for a vote on monday to lead the treasury department. and then you have sean duffy set to lead the transportation department. if all goes smoothly with those votes, and there's still the confirmation hearings to go. tulsi gabbard for dni, kash patel over at fbi and rfk jr for hhs. so it will be a busy upcoming week on the hill here. alex. >> you said it, julia jester thank you for that. more now on the trump administration's plan for mass deportation. with military transport planes now being used to repatriate migrants. joining me now,

sabrina singh, former deputy press secretary at the pentagon. it's good to see you, sabrina. lots to get into. so first of all, were you surprised to see military transport planes in the deportation effort? >> look. >> what you're seeing. >> with. >> our military. >> forces is they are being used. >> in. >> support of. >> dhs and border patrol. >> as we are surging. >> troops to the. >> border to assist in these efforts. it's really. >> at the. >> discretion of. >> the lead agency. and apparently, dhs has identified that our our, you know, aircraft can be used to help transport migrants back. look. >> is this a good use of resources? we've already. >> seen from the past, you know. late last year, migration numbers going down at the border. >> and again to. >> surge, you know. >> an additional 1500 troops. >> to the border. >> you're pulling. >> those troops. >> out. >> of training and going to. >> impact readiness in the long term. >> so is. >> this a good use of our. military forces and. >> their assets?

>> i mean, that's what this administration has determined. i don't necessarily agree. >> with that path. >> as we've seen migration. >> numbers clearly going down in the last year, but that. >> is. >> their decision that. >> they've made. >> so one of the president's executive orders sent 1500 troops to the border with plans for a surge of up to 10,000. but there are laws on how active duty military can be used on u.s. soil. so how involved can the military get? can they make arrests? can they join ice raids? i mean, what can they actually do while at the border other than, as you've described, be in support of actions? >> i think that's. >> the most important. >> point here is that right now, the u.s. military. >> is being. >> used in support. >> of those efforts. and we saw. >> that in. >> the statement issued by the. >> acting secretary of defense. >> before pete hegseth was. >> confirmed earlier or yesterday, but sworn in today. look. >> there are very strict. >> laws regarding how the u.s. >> military is. >> used domestically, and they cannot. >> be used.

>> in an. >> enforcement capacity. there can. >> be carve outs at times. but again. >> that's not the role of the u.s. military. >> the u.s. >> military is. >> there really to protect our our interests overseas, to work with our allies and partners. and at a time like. this where you have, you know, the ongoing war in ukraine. >> you. >> have the crisis. still raging. >> in the middle east. >> and then, of course, you know, everyone is always keeping. >> our eye. >> on what china. >> is going to do. >> there are a lot of crises and issues that are going to confront this administration, and by pulling. forces away. from their missions and. >> sending them to the border. >> for something that. >> really doesn't. >> require their support, i mean, that is going to impact. >> the. >> force long term. >> okay. so i want to drill down to that. when you say they can't be enforced for law enforcement, what can they absolutely not do? give us an example. >> it really comes. >> to the. >> authorities of how they're

being used. >> you know, there. >> is a. >> law. >> called posse comitatus. >> that bars. >> active duty. >> troops from domestic law enforcement without authorization. so things like arrests, you're not going to see, you know, our u.s. military going down and kicking in doors. >> they are there in support of dhs. >> and customs. and border patrol. >> so like you. >> saw with. >> flight capacity, helping, you know, set up. >> logistics points. >> things like. >> that, that are more in a logistical support way and less in. >> the law. enforcement way. >> that, you know, you're seeing. >> the customs. and border patrol do, in their usual capacity. >> okay. so pentagon officials monday took down a portrait of now retired chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general mark milley. the times quotes a u.s. official saying, quote, the white house ordered it removed. sabrina, how unusual is this? and what are you hearing about how folks at dod are reacting? is it being seen as anything but a petty move by donald trump?

>> i mean, how. >> unusual is this? i think there's certainly many things that are unusual about how this administration. >> is already coming in. >> but, you know, we shouldn't be surprised. >> i think donald trump came in and said he was. >> going to go after. >> those who stood. >> against him. it's really unfortunate. i mean. >> chairman milley is someone that. >> served in. >> uniform for. >> over 40 years. and served. >> this country faithfully. >> taking down his portrait in. >> the hallway. >> of the. >> of the joint chiefs. >> i'm not sure what type of. >> message that sends to the force. >> there's a lot. >> of crises all around. >> the world right now. the incoming. >> secretary is going to have. >> to confront those head on. going to have to brief the president on how our forces are being. >> used. >> how our. >> force posture needs to change. taking down a portrait. other than being symbolic. >> i'm not really sure what that adds or how. >> that. makes our. >> force more lethal and. capable around the world. >> have you heard anything from any of your former pentagon colleagues about how this is

being perceived inside the dod? look, of. >> course it's going to hit morale, but i think you have men and women in uniform and our civilian workforce that are not going to let that distract from their mission. they're going to keep doing the work every single day. >> i know. >> there are. >> folks right now in that building, continuing on with. >> the mission that they're assigned, because. >> all around. >> the world they are needed at all times. so they're not going to let this distract from that. it's unfortunate, but they're going to continue to carry on. >> pete hegseth, now sworn in as secretary of defense, confirmed in that 50 over 50 tie vote that was broken by vice president vance. one of the president's executive orders this week puts an end to diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which hegseth also opposed. how do you expect this to impact military operations? >> well, look. >> i think that remains to be seen. the secretary, the incoming secretary is going to, you know, be taking a look at

some of these programs. i think what's really important here is when we're talking about these dei initiatives, i'm curious exactly what that means to them. if you're talking about an hour of training versus, you know, the 80 hours. >> of. >> rifle work or marksmanship that an average soldier has to go through. >> i think. >> let's put things in perspective. but again, this. >> is a promise that. >> the trump administration came in on, and they're going to have to address that throughout the force. i think what's important here is our men and women in uniform are the best there is in the world. and so they're going to continue to stay focused on that mission and not let that detract from that from their mission. >> i want to just get an opinion from you. given your position as the former deputy press secretary at the pentagon, you have watched what it takes to be the secretary of defense here in the dod. do you think pete hegseth has what it takes to do the job? >> well, look, i think something that's very concerning is how he ran some of his non-profits. and

businesses. i mean, the secretary hegseth now is responsible for a workforce of nearly 3 million people and a budget of nearly $1 trillion. if past is any indication of what the future could hold, mismanaging funds and american taxpayer dollars, that's very serious. i think senators on the hill had their concerns. i think there are concerns, certainly. >> that i have. but look. >> you know, he's he is now the secretary of defense. he has a lot of work ahead of him. and i hope that he relies on the civilian workforce and those who are in uniform that know that building that have served, you know, a very long time in the military to help guide him through some of the challenges that he's going to face. >> we will be watching very closely with your help as well. sabrina singh, good to see you. thank you so much. thanks, alex. coming up next, donald trump's executive order, that could be his roadmap to retribution.

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one (800) 407-7609 or visit copper bullet hose.com. order now. >> want the fastest working glp one for half the price? roh now offers fda approved weight loss injections cheaper with results. you can see faster. lose 15% of your weight with the formula from eli lilly. see if you qualify at irokotv. >> everyone is raving about september 5th. >> there's a hostage situation in the olympic village. >> it's masterful and heart pounding. people are going to want to see it. don't miss one of the best movies of the year. >> it's not okay. we made it worse. oh, god. >> september 5th, rated r. >> new today, nbc news reports several senior career justice department officials have been told they are being removed from their jobs and reassigned to a new initiative, taking legal action against so-called sanctuary cities. and that's according to four doj officials familiar with the matter. joining me now we have michael schmidt, new york times investigative reporter. his

latest coauthored, headline, a trump executive order, sets out what could be a roadmap for retribution. welcome, michael. i'm so glad to have you here. before we get to your article, is this trump seeking to have the government's finest legal minds working on his anti-immigration agenda, or is it retribution or punishment or some sort of payback? >> i'm not sure. >> look. >> they ran on a platform. >> of tougher. >> immigration policies. and enforcement. >> so this. would seem. >> to. >> be fitting in that. >> look. >> he has. taken a lot of actions. >> over the. >> past week. in his. first week in. >> office. that certainly look like the beginnings of. >> a retribution campaign, the most significant of those being taking the security details away from former national security officials who face a threat from iran over the killings of

soleimani back when those those national. >> security officials worked for trump. >> he signed an executive order that starts the government down a path of fact finding. to look at previous weaponization and bias under the previous. >> administration. >> under the biden administration. >> he took the. security clearances. >> away from. former intelligence officials. so he has done a lot of what he said he would do in terms of both immigration cracking down, taking a tougher stance on immigration. >> and. >> on also. retribution beginning to follow through on what he said he would do on the campaign trail. >> you referenced john bolton there. let's take a listen right now. i'll have my director play what donald trump himself said and john bolton's reaction as well to exactly what you've just described. take a listen, everyone. >> at some point, your security detail comes off and you know

you can't have them forever. they can hire their own security. they all made a lot of money. fauci made a lot of money. >> the decision. >> to. remove protection. >> should be threat based. it should. certainly not be based on political differences or. the fact you've got a. >> petty. >> vindictive person as president. >> michael. >> what do we know about where these ideas came from? did donald trump come up with them themselves? i mean, you might have heard my conversation with sabrina singh. i want to add to it, you know, removing mark milley's portrait from the hallowed halls there in the pentagon. >> look, a lot of this, these things like taking milley's portrait down, is basically for show there there are things that show, show retribution. but the taking away the security details is something different. it brings the security of those individuals who criticized trump into question. and now they have to go out and figure out how to

defend and fend for themselves based on a threat that was created because they worked in the government and they worked under donald trump at the time, and they were part of this, this extraordinary decision to kill soleimani. you know, back back at the beginning of 2020. so it is a type of retribution that trump did not talk about openly on the campaign trail. he talked a lot about going after people from the january 6th investigation, going after the special counsel, jack smith, looking at the biden family, the question of whether they were going to seek retribution by taking security details away from national security officials was not something that was was a campaign line for him. it was not something that he talked about on the stump. >> yeah, we should say doctor anthony fauci as well. he really oversaw the country getting through the covid pandemic. he

has had to hire his own private security and has done so. let me ask about what you wrote with regard to trump's executive order. that could be his roadmap to retribution, because he ordered the attorney general to review four years of civil and criminal law enforcement, including actions of doj, the securities and exchange commission, sec, and the federal trade commission. the ftc. he ordered a similar review for intelligence agencies to be led by the director of national intelligence. so first, michael, for doj, who's likely to be in the crosshairs as a result of this, is trump looking directly at jack smith here? >> yeah. look. >> they're looking at anything that they thought they basically didn't like. that went on from 2001 to 2024. so there's a lot of different things that happened. obviously trump being indicted twice. and what it does is it sort of starts the conveyor belt. it provides them with a way, a roadmap to go in

and start looking at how investigative and intelligence decisions were made to determine whether they they think that there was bias in them, that executive order, while it asks for these agencies and departments to go and look for this type of behavior, is pretty clear in its language about how trump views what went on. it says that the january 6th defendants have were unfairly treated. it talks about how the previous administration weaponized the government against trump and his allies. so it sort of sets out what the conclusion is before the investigating even starts. but it what it does is that it shows that there is more. >> thought and more. >> blueprint going into retribution than there was in the previous administration. there was not this type of systematic effort. certainly early on when trump came into office to go after his rivals,

he would tweet different things about what he would wanted, what he wanted. oftentimes, those actions, proactive uses of the government's powers against his enemies were taken. but but this shows much more of a roadmap for how they could do that. it starts these agencies and departments looking through their. files for things that could be publicly revealed, to embarrass and shame the people from the previous administration to turn them into targets of public attacks. or it could even be something that ultimately ends up being given to an investigative agency like the fbi to start an inquiry. >> i got to say, michael schmidt, it's a great article. you know what i love about having you on it? i have to read your writings, and it's like, it's a homework assignment. you know, for an investigative reporting class you want to see. it's. i mean, i'm old school. everything's highlighted, i got stars, i got stuff underlined. thank you for bringing it to us. you're welcome to. come on. anytime. thank you. michael. meantime, my next guest wrote

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included, for only $15 a month. month. call 1-833-735-4495 or visit homeserve. >> com we saw elon musk take kind of a powerful role. did anything about how he wielded his power surprise you? do you not need a katrina level type of response that is rebuilding to make sure it won't happen again? you've obviously made a decision to resign. are there any lessons that can be learned as you're talking to members of your congregation, what do you tell them about how to stand up for their own moral beliefs, but still find grace in this moment? >> there's absolutely nothing i. >> will apologize. >> for because i. >> did. >> nothing wrong. the proud boys did nothing wrong. and american. >> patriots did. >> nothing wrong. we are currently assessing our options on not only who to sue because

there's a lot of people to sue. i want accountability. >> that is enrique tarrio, leader of the right wing group proud boys, expressing a desire for revenge yesterday after receiving a pardon and dodging a 22 year prison sentence for the role the government says he played in the january 6th attack on the capitol. here with me now in studio is brendan ballou, former federal prosecutor who prosecuted capitol rioters. he just resigned from the justice department on thursday, and he wrote about it in a new york times op ed. welcome, brendan. i don't know whether to congratulate you or say i'm sorry for the circumstances that led you to believe you needed to resign. but when you listen to enrique tarrio there, how do you interpret his words? what kind of power do you think he and other militia leaders are taking away from these pardons? do they now have the right to hold the government accountable? is that what they believe? >> i think they've taken a very powerful message away from monday's pardons, which. >> is.

>> that to. >> a certain degree, they are above and beyond the law. i think that the effect and i think the intention of these executive. >> orders was to. >> empower vigilantes. >> and militias who were loyal. >> to the president, but ultimately unaccountable to the government. >> okay. >> how can militias operate to benefit a president, if indeed that's their takeaway? and you think they intend on doing so? >> this is something that we see happen in a lot of other countries that are experiencing illiberalism. >> yes. >> outright autocracies. what you'll have is you'll have militia groups that are loyal to the president, see it as their job to enforce their agenda, but ultimately are willing to use violence that the state might not be willing to. and that could be a whole spectrum of things. it can be street level harassment, like you see in iraq, in iran, enforcing the dress codes to the very extreme versions, like the working groups in argentina that disappeared thousands of political enemies. so there's a

spectrum of possibility here. >> you mentioned in the article, the op ed that you wrote that the klu klux klan specifically targeted and killed african americans, and laws were enacted to combat the klan. is it your concern that federal prosecutors may now be inclined to. i don't know how to put it, other than to say, look the other way when laws governing militias and civil rights are broken. >> yeah, we've got a real challenge, which is at least at the very top of law enforcement in the united states when we're talking about the president, perhaps some of the incoming leaders of the fbi and elsewhere, i suspect that there's not going to be a strong interest in going after the folks that were previously arrested on january 6th. >> so let's talk about what's happening in the doj. several of your former colleagues have been reassigned. that all was going down this week. many worked on the two federal cases, the criminal cases against trump. first of all, is this why you resigned from the doj to either

avoid reassignment or, you know, watching work that you had done just become dismantled and dissolve? i'm curious how many other prosecutors are leaving and the kind of impact that will have on the doj. >> yeah. in fact, right before i came here, i was talking to a friend in government who's going through exactly that same calculus, trying to decide what to do. i will say, you know, not just every lawyer at the department of justice, every employee at the department of justice takes an oath at the beginning of their job to protect the constitution. yeah. and i think every lawyer has to grapple with how best to do that. for some lawyers, i think that's going to be remaining in government and trying to make sure that illegal or unethical orders don't go into effect. i think for others, the calculus is going to be that they can be most effective by leaving government and trying to speak out. >> can i ask the extent to which you feel there is a presence of political bias in the doj? it is

a department that is supposed to be free of that. but there are all these allegations. do you see it there? >> you know, i think it's so important that the department of justice, beyond any other department, not just be perceived as apolitical, but to be apolitical, to pursue justice no matter what the ends are. i was proud that i think for most of my time and all of my time at the department of justice, i think we were effective at doing that. i think what you're seeing, at least from the leadership in the white house, is that it's not just the effect, but the intention potentially to change that. and i think that's very concerning. >> brendan ballou, we will see you again. much more to talk about. thank you so much. thank you. tears, hugs and a sense of relief for the israeli hostages released today are right now. next. >> are you overwhelmed with identity management in the. context of omnipresent threats to your organization? >> hi. so no one knows what that means. >> what's happening?

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hundreds of palestinian prisoners came home in high spirits to their own cheers. joining me now, nbc's raf sanchez, who is in petah tikva, israel. so, raf, the question is, what's next for the hostages and the prisoners who've been released? >> so, alex, those four female israeli soldiers are on the sixth floor of that hospital behind me, where they are taking the first steps on what is going to be a long road to recovery. but doctors here tell us that they appear to be in good condition. karina arias, daniella gilboa, naama levy, who you might remember, was that young woman paraded through the streets of gaza in those bloodstained sweatpants back on october 7th, and then on the right of your screen, lira, aalborg. she was 18 years old when she was taken captive at that observation post on the israel gaza border. a hostage video was released of her just a couple of weeks ago, and today she is free after 477 days in

captivity, we spent the morning with her extended family as they gathered around the television, along with, frankly, the rest of israel, and they watched in real time as she was released from gaza. and i want to play you just a little bit of a conversation i had with her aunt there. take a listen. when you see lira for the first time, what will you do? >> hug, a big hug and they just say how much we miss her. that's it. we won't ask anything. just give her a big hug. maybe we'll cry for sure. we'll cry and we'll say how much we miss her. and that's it. and she's a hero. >> you hear her? they're just saying she'll give her a big hug and she will give her the space to say as much or as little as she wants to about her time in gaza. in terms of those prisoners, alex, 200 of them released some of them to the occupied west bank, some of them deported to egypt. unclear if

they're going to stay there, if they're going to go on to a third country like turkey or qatar. but there were scenes of jubilation in ramallah and other palestinian cities as those prisoners were released. >> alex, before we let you go, can you give me a sense of how phase one is going? because israel is accusing hamas of breaking the deal. what's behind this? >> yeah. so israel said earlier today that hamas should have released a civilian woman who is still in captivity in gaza. her name is arbel yahud. they say the deal here was that civilian women would come out first and military women would come out second. now, israel is saying that because hamas breached that deal, they are not going to allow palestinian civilians to return to their homes in northern gaza until they are confident that arbeely is going to be released. it is not clear at this point why hamas did not release her. today, the israeli government is saying it is in

contact with the trump administration, and it expects that this issue will be resolved. >> okay, ralph sanchez, much appreciated. as always, a much must read rather from my next guest. she's a health researcher who says the pause on grants from the national institutes of health could have a devastating health could have a devastating cost. that's next. at harbor freight, we design and test our own tools and sell them directly to you. no middleman. just quality tools you can trust at prices you'll love. whatever you do, do it for less at harbor freight. ♪♪ [coughing] copd is an ugly reality. do you have his medical history? i watch as his world just keeps getting smaller. but then, trelegy helped us see things a little differently. with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. once-daily trelegy also improves lung function,

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for scientific research and cancer study is on hold by the trump administration. researchers impacted by the pause in grants from federal agencies say these delays could have far reaching and tragic consequences. and joining us now is doctor esther chu, professor of emergency medicine at oregon health and science university. and doctor, i'm so glad you're here. the process is complicated. it's long to even get to these grants. but we have word from a yale professor who says we may lose a generation of scientists who are going to be discouraged from pursuing research if there isn't a sustainable field during this administration. i'm curious, how long is too long delaying these grants? what does that result in? maybe years long impacts on treatments for any numbers of diseases that could be developed? i mean, is that a concern? >> yeah. >> everything you say is a concern. >> i mean. >> this likely impacts. even even this short. >> shutdown we're talking.

>> about likely impacts hundreds if not thousands of researchers who put. >> in their grants. >> there is a cycle of grant review that's been canceled. but also there's council meetings which decide whether well, scoring grants meet nih priorities. those are grants reviewed for many months back. so we're talking about many, many scientists who are well qualified to do this research and have already been assessed to have to have research proposals that are likely to have high impact on human lives in the united states and around the world. and so if you think about interrupting that, even for a short period of time, if we can't recover it quickly, then certainly all the things that we, you know, you look around your house, what's in your medicine cabinet if you have chronic or acute disease and you're taking medications that improve your quality of life or extend your lifespan, if we think about how our children are able to survive infancy and childhood, how we're able to live longer and healthier lives, all those things you can trace back easily to the nih process that is supposed to go on

relentlessly, no matter what's going on, no matter what administration. yeah. and importantly, you know, these nih grants support early career researchers, as you allude to. and sometimes these early career researchers don't have forever to sit around and wait to see if a grant comes in to support the next stage of their training. so we miss a cycle. that person has to either get a job or get support for their research in other ways. and so a single grant cycle, a second grant cycle that can actually be the death of careers that would have had high impact over the course of many decades to come. >> it is crazy. i was reading your msnbc column and the fact that you were in a meeting and were supposed to go to a meeting, rather was abruptly canceled on tuesday with no rescheduling. and you've put together a bunch of researchers and scientists. you come together to compare notes and further the process of the grant. let me ask you about forbes, which reports the national cancer institute is one of the biggest recipients of funding from the national institutes of health. gets about, what, $7 billion a year? could private funding make up

totally, or make up at least a significant amount in what could potentially be missed? and are there pitfalls to a privately funded approach? >> i mean, certainly we're all going to be as creative as possible if nih funding is not coming through. and almost every researcher i know has together a mixed portfolio of some private foundation funding, maybe a little bit from their university. but really the backbone of research is nih and other federal dollars. so it's hard to imagine, especially quickly, private dollars replacing the huge machine that is the us scientific enterprise. it just i do not think it can be done. >> can i. >> ask quickly about the trump administration pausing most external communications from the department of health and human services? can this be chalked up to federal agencies just adjusting to a new administration? i mean, i'm curious the information doctors rely on that might not be now totally up to date. given the

pause. >> yeah. >> super concerning. and there's no clear end date to it. but, you know, this is information we all rely on. you know, weekly reports on emerging diseases, our ability to detect when there may be a next epidemic or pandemic. it's very concerning. you know, part of what's shut down is also our ability to go to conferences, to travel, to go to scientific meetings where we can discuss important collaborate, you know, emerging, emerging science. and so, yeah, this is really inhibiting what's an entire scientific process and our ability to, to make sure that that americans are healthy and safe. >> i'm going to suggest that people look up doctor esther chu in this column on msnbc. guys. it is frightening to be the to be perfectly honest about it. doctor esther chu. thank you for coming and talking to us a bit about it. thank you. best of luck. thank you. an important

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>> or just stop by granger. we're the ones who get it done. breaking news. a fast moving disaster in california. >> breaking news. >> israel and hamas will enter a ceasefire. >> in the nation's capital. philadelphia and el paso. >> the palisades. >> from. >> msnbc world headquarters. >> each week on my podcast. >> i'm joined by uniquely qualified guests who help me take a big picture look at the issues like representative jasmine crockett, late night host seth meyers. >> former attorney. general eric holder. >> and many more. why is this happening? listen now. >> right now, los angeles bracing for another worst case scenario with an incoming storm posing a new threat. let's bring in meteorologist michelle grossman for one last look on this storm. how much rain can we expect in the southern california area, and what are the big concerns about it? >> hi there alex. well, we're looking at a half inch up to two inches of beneficial rain from now until monday. so the low is

going to sort of sit and spin over the area. and we will see debris flows in some spots and even some localized flooding because of those burn scars. this is what it looks like on radar right now. you can see the green. that's where the rain is falling. this is really going to fill in over the next several hours, especially into the evening hours and last all the way through monday. so as a result, we do have a flood watch for places like malibu, los angeles, santa clarita, pasadena, where you see the green. that's where we're concerned about some flooding. and this is why we're looking at a lot of rain in some spots, those darker colors, meaning the higher amounts of rain. so the reds, the oranges, the yellows looking where we're expecting the highest amounts of rain, places from santa barbara all the way to san diego. alex. >> okay, thank you for the heads up on all that. i will be heading out to my hometown to check things out this next week, so i'll let you know how it looks that's going to do it for me on this edition of alex witt reports. i'll see you again tomorrow at 1 p.m. eastern. up next, the beat weekend.